EFFECT OF EGG YOLK AND PHOSPHATIDES ON ANTHRAX INFECTION OF RATS AND GUINEA PIGS

Abstract : Suspension of anthrax spores or vegetative cells in phosphatidyl ethanolamine, or the related phosphatides, phosphatidyl serine and phosphatidyl inositol, markedly reduced the intraperitoneal median lethal dose for guinea pigs and Sprague-Dawley rats, thus duplicating the effect of whole chicken egg yolk. Quantitative considerations indicated that the amount of phosphatidyl ethanolamine present in yolk could account for the effect of yolk. Lecithin, the other major phosphatide of yolk, was ineffective. Phosphatidyl ethanolamine appeared to influence the initial phases of host-bacterium interaction.